The 2-foot sea-level rise predicted by 2050 threatens to swallow huge chunks of Southern California’s wetlands, resulting not only in the loss of endangered wildlife habitat and popular recreation areas but also key buffers protecting homes and other buildings from the rising and increasingly volatile Pacific Ocean.

In response, a coalition of the 18 state and federal environmental agencies on Thursday approved an ambitious strategy to preserve, restore and expand the region’s marshes, salt flats, lagoons and estuaries. The plan aims to more than double the 1,600 acres of inter-tidal wetlands in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

The urgency of the task means the work should start immediately, says the “Wetlands on the Edge” strategy document approved by the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project partners in 16-0 vote Thursday in Chula Vista. There was one abstention.

An inlet from the Pacific Ocean lets water in to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach. (File Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Visitors to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve cross the footbridge at the start of a trail along the wetlands in Huntington Beach.. (File Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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The sun rises over an island in the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach in February, 2018. (File Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

With the projected 2-foot rise in sea level by 2050 and no further environmental mitigation, much of the current freshwater areas would be covered by saltwater during high tides. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project

With the projected 2-foot rise in sea level by 2050 and no further environmental mitigation, much of the current freshwater areas would be covered by saltwater during high tides. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project

The saltwater marshes near Marina del Rey are covered with seawater at high tide, but would be increasingly underwater regardless of tides as sea levels rise. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project

With the projected 2-foot rise in sea level by 2050 and no further environmental action, much of the current freshwater areas would be covered by saltwater during high tides. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project

“Wetlands restoration projects take approximately 20 to 40 years from planning to completion of a fully functioning wetland,” the report says. “Because of the rapidly increasing rate of sea-level rise in the second half of this century, wetland restoration must occur before 2030 in order to establish mature marshes that are more resilient to sea-level rise.”

Lofty goals

By 2100, sea levels are expected to have risen by 5 1/2 feet as a result of climate change, according to the National Research Council projections used for the report. Estimates by others predict an even a faster rise.

Central to the newly approved strategy is providing space for wetlands to migrate inland as sea levels rise and gobble up portions of wetlands closest to the coast.

That’s a departure from the previous Wetlands Recovery Project strategy, approved in 2001, in which the goal was simply to preserve existing wetlands and restore some of those that were degraded.

The proposed expansion of wetlands is based on available open space — including parking lots and farmland — and would not require buildings to be torn down, according Megan Cooper, deputy regional manager of the State Coastal Conservancy, which was central in preparation of the new strategy report.

However, she acknowledged that the goals — which include acquiring 1,500 acres of private land in Orange and Los Angeles counties — may not all be achieved.

The document outlines land targeted for restoration and expansion but it will be up to individual agencies, local governments and non-profits to work out the details, including funding.

“We set out to be aspirational,” Cooper said. “We anticipate the realities of how hard this will be to accomplish. In some areas, it may not be realistic.”

That aspirational approach resulted in the sole abstention in Thursday’s vote, by Chris Yates of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. His agency has expressed reservations about the ability of the plan to be translated into policy according to Coastal Conservancy spokeswoman Taylor Samuelson.

Shrinking open space

Since the 1800s, Southern California from Ventura County to the Mexican border has lost 62 percent of its 33,400 acres of coastal wetlands, mostly to development and urbanization.

Los Angeles and and Orange counties have been particularly hard hit: Los Angeles County north of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, dubbed the “Santa Monica subregion” in the strategy study, has lost 91 percent of its historic wetlands. L.A. County from the Palos Verdes Peninsula south through Orange County, dubbed the “San Pedro subregion,” has lost 93 percent.

“Throughout most of recorded world history, wetlands were regarded as wastelands and problem areas to be drained and filled,” says the “Wetlands on the Edge” report. “(But) a shift in the understanding and appreciation for these habitats has occurred, and wetlands are now valued worldwide for the many benefits they provide.”

Other priorities include preserving nature refuges and recreation areas.

“Southern California is such a heavily urbanized and heavily populated area,” Cooper said. “Wetlands are sometimes the only natural places left. It can be the only place to walk on trails and enjoy open space.”

The Wetlands Recovery Project was formed in 1997 to provide a coordinated effort to reverse the losses. It has since restored or rehabilitated 5,000 acres of wetlands in Southern California.

With existing wetlands largely protected from development, the potential losses of habitat are now primarily the result of sea-level rise from melting icecaps.

Focus on the future

Endangered, threatened and near-threatened birds that depend to varying degrees on the wetlands for survival include the California Ridgway’s rail, the Savannah sparrow and the snowy plover, Cooper said. The wetlands provide hatcheries for several species of fish and a home for the endangered tidewater goby.

The new strategy of creating space for the wetlands to migrate inland focuses on inter-tidal habitats crucial to many of these animals.

Inter-tidal lands are those that are covered by seawater at high tide and exposed at low tide, while sub-tidal area are perpetually underwater.

The report looks at the amount of land that would be added to these inter-tidal areas.

Upper Newport Bay, for example, has seen its historic inter-tidal area of 500 to 750 acres shrink to as little as 400 acres — and would expand to its original size under the strategy.

More radically, the Ballona Wetlands near Marina del Rey historically had as much as 500 acres of inter-tidal wetlands. That has shrunk to less than 200 acres and could be restored to twice its current size.

Many of the state and federal agencies involved want to preserve the billions dollars of work they have already invested in the wetlands. But the focus of the new strategy leapfrogs notions of preserving historic configurations to focus on the future and make improvements that will serve the area for decades to come.

“We’re not trying recreate the past, but understand what’s lost,” said Eric Stein, who helped draft the strategy in his role as head biologist of the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. “Understanding the extent of loss and its composition is an important foundational element when putting the objectives together.”

Martin Wisckol covers coastal environment and development. Previously, he spent two decades as politics reporter and columnist for the Orange County Register. He’s also held reporting positions in Miami, Jacksonville, Detroit and his hometown of San Diego, with an emphasis on land use and urban planning. He is a lifelong surfer and has spent most of his life on the coast. His work has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Headliner Awards, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Florida Press Club and the American Planning Association Florida Chapter.